Computer Freezing Intermittently - What's wrong?

I

I3eyond

Gawd
Joined
Jan 14, 2006
Messages
937
Temps are fine.

The screen will freeze up for about 5 seconds intermittently.

I reformatted thinking maybe there were some corrupted files, and it's still freezing up.

I can't install anything without the computer freezing up throughout the install.

UPDATE: I tried to reformat Windows again, and now on 2 different tries it locks up during the installation of Windows.

Is the hard drive going bad? What could it be?
 
I'd say RAM before HDD. Run memtest overnight on one stick for several passes, then do the same for the other if the first didn't have any errors.
 
enginurd said:
I'd say RAM before HDD. Run memtest overnight on one stick for several passes, then do the same for the other if the first didn't have any errors.
Click to expand...

Is RAM used in the middle of the Windows installation after formatting?

And is there any way to do that if I can't get Windows installed?
 
of course RAM is used during windows installation. RAM is used for everything. System wont even boot without RAM in it. My computer would sometimes lock up at the BIOS screen when I had bad RAM in it. Take out sticks and keep trying.

memtest can be run from CD and so can Drive Fitness Test. try DFT first because its quicker and will eliminate the hard drive immediately. memtest doesnt catch all issue with memory.

EDIT: DFT might fail because its probably loaded into memory and run from there. Oh well. i would start removing sticks.
 
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If it were RAM wouldn't my computer have problems even posting?

How does RAM go bad over time? I can see how a HDD does since there's always something moving, but what about RAM?
 
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Having bad ram can cause all kinds of screwy things to happen to your computer. And what is "bad" may not mean non-functioning, but just poorly functioning. I learned this from overclocking some ram too much, it became poorly functioning. I purchased new, higher performance memory and it ran perfectly, and has run perfectly for years.
 
Just because something has no moving parts doesn't mean it can't go bad. Voltage still gets pumped into it, and heat is a byproduct of power. Heat can also kill components, whether they move or not. How does RAM go bad? power fluctuations from either the wall, psu, or mobo; overheating; esd; faulty chips; bad silicon; bad solder; bad pcb; bad contact; bad dimm slot; etc.
 
You know... this may be unrelated, but I've got an Opteron 144 (buddy is usin it) that when it goes over 50C it lags the system every few seconds till you reboot. It's done this on two boards...... I know there is probably a 1% chance anything like this is happening but it was just a thought.
 
lol... though, I didn't say it wasn't the HDD... I just said I'd test the RAM first, hehe.
 
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